Family Erebidae    Hodges # 8739

Caenurgina crassiuscula (Clover Looper) and Caenurgina erechtea (Forage Looper) are very difficult to tell apart.  Here are some suggestions on distinguishing them from Jerry Fauske and Bugguide:

Caenurgina crassiuscula is very brown, with a brownish ground color.  It lacks white edging to the outer margin of the PM blotch-line.  Inner (basal) band touches inner margin.  The two dark bands nearly touch each other near the midline.

Caenurgina erechtea is mouse gray.   The two dark bands don’t touch near the midline, and the inner band (basal) doesn’t touch the inner margin.  On males the AM line inner boundary is curved outward well before the inner margin.  In C. crassiuscula it is pretty straight.

Moths that look like this are very common here – C. crassiuscula seems to be more common.  These are the ones that look – to me – most like Caenurgina erechtea.

5/22/2014  male

5/6/2012   female (Bugguide)